Alberta needs to give itself a shot in the arm this flu season

Health officials are hoping to get a higher turnout for the vaccine this year

Imagine if restaurants were allowed to pass just 30 per cent of their health inspections.

Or if doctors succeeded on just 30 per cent of their surgeries.

Or if we gave driver’s licences to people who scored 30 per cent on their road test.

“Sure, Jimmy, you blew through six stop signs and almost ran down a senior in a crosswalk, but you park like a champion, so here’s your permit.”

It’s a ludicrous thought. And yet 30 percent is the province’ s hope this year for Alber- tans to get the flu shot.

Reaching even that mark will require some effort, considering Alberta’s seasonal flu immunization rate has hovered in the high 20s in recent years.

If we have a really good year, 35 per cent is the best we can do because that’s all the vaccine the province ordered.

Chances are, several hundred thousand doses will again go into the garbage by the end of the winter. We have to do better.

Critics will undoubtedly take issue with my comparisons to surgeons and food safety, since those are life and death situations where failure can’t be tolerated.

But here’s the thing: Influenza is also a life or death issue.

At least 92 Albertans died last year after contracting the virus, and more than 3,000 were hospitalized. The vast majority were unvaccinated.

That is an awful tragedy of human life and suffering, not to mention an enormous burden on the health system. The cost of a standard hospital stay in the province last year was estimated at $8,112, so do the math.

Results of a new online survey were released Monday by Insights West, which found 79 per cent of respondents in Alberta believe the flu vaccine is important and 61 per cent actually intend to get the shot this year.

Those are encouraging numbers, but based on past trends we know more than half of those respondents won’t follow through. There is a puzzling disconnect between people’s beliefs and their actions.

The more concerning result from the survey is the significant number of respondents who refuse to be vaccinated for a variety of misguided views.

“The shot can give you the flu .” (Nope. The vaccine has no live components.)

“Vaccines cause autism.” (Repeatedly discredited.)

“I got the shot last year.” (The bug changes, so you have to get it every year.)

“I’m young and healthy so I don’t need it.” (You can still catch the bug. And even if your illness is mild, you can spread it to others who are more vulnerable.)

“The vaccine doesn’t work. I took it and still got sick.”

Countering this last stance requires more explanation.

Influenza viruses are chameleons, frequently changing their form. Health experts try to make predictions on what to include in the vaccine, but sometimes those predictions are a poor match to the bugs that actually circulate.

As well, it typically takes two weeks after getting the shot for the body to build up a good immune response.

That means it is possible to contract the flu even if you get the shot. Still, partial protection is considerably better than none.

You’ll notice at this point I have yet to talk about the most hardline opposition, which is the group of people whose objections seem tied up in a general distrust of government or any scientific authority.

I don’t like to give these “antivaxxers” much attention, in part because the logical end point of their beliefs is that there is a massive conspiracy afoot to fool the public about vaccine safety.

Their numbers, unfortunately, appear to be growing, but I fear there is little that can be said to persuade them.

Instead, our efforts are better spent on reaching those Albertans who suffer from what has been called “vaccine hesitancy.”

In that vein, we especially need to press the case with non-immunized health workers, whose reluctance not only presents a danger to patients, but also sends a bad message to the public.

While I think health unions and colleges could be more forceful in pushing workers to get vaccinated, the numbers did start to improve last year.

If such improvements can be sustained over the long term, it will stop the government from having to consider mandatory vaccinations.

The flu shot is now available all around the province, at Alberta Health Services clinics, pharmacies and doctors’ offices.

It’s free. It’s easy. And it may just save somebody’s life.

Together, let’s embarrass the government.

Let’s show health officials they have dramatically underestimated the vaccine supply they will need this season.

A 30-per-cent success rate shouldn’t be the high watermark.

We would never accept it from a road test or restaurant inspection, so why accept it with our own health?